Data concerning personal effects and real estate in the Netherlands in the 16th century

Compiled by H.A. Enno van Gelder

During the reign of the Duke of Alba, the property of a large body of individuals was confiscated between the years 1567-1570 because they were thought to have participated in the Dutch Revolt. The author of this publication has put together a selection of documents that were drawn up by the trustees of these personal effects. The bulk of the documents consists of bills, however lists detailing personal property and personal effects have also been included. They have been gathered from a large number of archival depots in the Netherlands and Belgium.

While most of the documents have been written in Dutch, some are in French. In some cases, the author either left out passages that he considered to be unimportant, or else paraphrased them in modern Dutch. He divided the documents into the following groups: nobility (44 items), farmers (26 items), trade and traffic (73 items), industry (91 items) and the professions (30 items). Although the title indicates otherwise, most of the documents were drafted during the years 1568-1570. Both volumes include indexes that contain the names of individuals, place names, occupations, special subjects, and religious institutions. This publication gives us an idea of the standard of living enjoyed by people in the Netherlands during the middle of the 16th century and contains a lot of data on the material culture of the time.